Making A Difference for APS!

This month, Arlington Public School students celebrated Black History Month in various ways. It is very important that our students learn and understand Black histories, going beyond stories of racism and slavery to spotlight Black achievement. This year's theme is Black Health and Wellness. For a quick glimpse of how our schools participated see below and take a glance at how APS as a system celebrated Black History Month.

Barrett Elementary School got a head start in celebrating Black History Month by inviting parents and community volunteers into the classroom to participate in their Roving Reader Program. A multicultural and anti-basis literacy initiative that allows its members to help plant seeds of cross-cultural awareness, critical thinking, and acceptance in the minds of their young audience. Here is a small sampling of what was read: Trombone Shorty, Jump at the Sun, I Am Enough and Amazing Grace.

Kenmore Middle Black History Month Committee created a beautiful and informative display in front of Kenmore’s main office to educate our students about Black History Month.

Randolph students in 3rd and 5th grade worked to color the 36 pages that celebrate African American leaders. They used markers and paint to fill in the color blocks to create the faces. Before they started students helped to mark and label the pages with the correct colors to help the puzzle come together. They then cut out the 36 individual squares and put them together, making sure to match the correct parts of the face - it was 3 rows and 12 columns. Once arranged they glued all the pieces together to create the large mural. They used neon liquid watercolor to splatter paint on top to make it bright and interesting.

This banner celebrates:

• Thurgood Marshall
• Ruby Bridges
• George Washington Carver
• Jackie Robinson
• Harriet Tubman
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Rosa Parks
• Barrack Obama

“I have loved appreciating and celebrating the staff at Oakridge this year. During such a unique year, it has been a great way to still feel connected to the Oakridge community. “

-- Heather Crowley

"I enjoy volunteering with Ashlawn students because I love making a difference in kids’ lives especially at the school that I used to attend and remembering the experience I had at that age!"

--Amanda Bloom, Ashlawn Volunteer

“I think that what is great about volunteering as an adult is that you can volunteer in whatever causes you care about. For some volunteers teaching students to read and write in brings them joy. While in other examples it can be teaching kids about how to recycle their trash at home or in their communities. Volunteers are an important part of our community because they can teach you life lessons.” -Sohpia (5th Grade / Barrett ES)

"The best part of volunteering is the kids! I love working with them."

- Milagros Mallen Carrizosa, Jefferson Volunteer

We’re feeling the love from our new partners from Leveling the Playing Field Inc. who have provided Carlin Springs with hundreds of pieces of recess and play equipment to encourage students to move and be active during recess time. The students have been loving all the new additions at recess time!

Educational Theatre Company (ETC) has been excitedly continuing the longest running arts partnership in APS with in-school programming at Cardinal Elementary. ETC has been working directly with teachers in all grades to provide support for everything from Kindergarten Cause and Effect to Fifth Grade Conflict Resolution - and everything in between! The Cardinal PTA earmarked money specifically to provide ETC curriculum support, which begins with meetings with classroom teachers to identify exactly how ETC can best work with them and their students. The requests from teachers were so great that they surpassed the generous PTA support and the Humanities program will be used to fulfill all teacher requests and enhance this partnership!

Meredith Greene and Sharon Burd are two of Abingdon's newest parent volunteers, but have already helped in countless ways to support the community. Most recently, they co-chaired Abingdon's Winter Wonderland, a Saturday family event that brought together over 40 volunteers for an afternoon of games, snacks, live music, and a photo booth with Abingdon's Cardinal mascot. Meredith Greene shared, "I'm most excited about the idea that so many things are possible to help families, teachers, and the Abingdon community in general." Their volunteer efforts have supported kindergarten and science classrooms, prepared the Abingdon Community Garden for spring planting, and helped families in need. Thinking about future volunteer endeavors, Sharon Burd shared that she is eager to engage more families at Abingdon through volunteer efforts and to celebrate the beautiful diversity of our school family with upcoming events.

Claremont PTA’s is sponsoring the annual Read-A-Thon. They encourage all families to participate in this event that promotes literacy and raises funds for the Claremont Immersion PTA. This year, the Read-A-Thon starts on February 14 and runs through March 2. The money collected in the Read-A-Thon will come back to the school community. We hope that all students will challenge themselves to read at least 250 minutes in grades kindergarten through 2nd grade—15 minutes per day; or 500 minutes for grades three through fifth—30 minutes per day. Each student who makes their grade goal will be recognized as a proud member of the “Claremont Reading Champions” team. Thank you to the PTA for making this possible every year!

For more info please go to the link below!

https://pledgestar.com/claremont/

Email: dawn.smith@apsva.us
Website: apsva.us
Location: 2110 Washington Boulevard, Arlington, VA, USA
Phone: 703-228-2581